David Stern: No More Complaints About Refs

The Commish doesn’t want to hear anyone moan about the referees anymore. (Kobe, for one, took the warning to heart last night.) The OC Register has Stern’s menacing quotes: “Stern went on and on when asked about Jackson not being happy with the $35,000 fine for working the refs through the media. ‘I wish I had it to do all over again, starting 20 years ago by suspending Phil and Pat Riley for all the games they played in the media,’ Stern said. ‘As you guys (reporters) know, our referees go out there and knock themselves out and do the best job they can. Our coaches do whatever they can to work them publicly, and what that does is erode fan confidence and you get some of the situations that we had. So our coaches should be quiet, because this is a good business that makes them good livings and support a lot of families. And if they don’t like it, they should go get a job somewhere else. I don’t mean to be too subtle.’ More of Stern’s diatribe: ‘It’s corrosive. And because of the pressure cooker that is the NBA playoffs, over the years I’ve let it go. But when you hear a Chicago coach say, ‘Oh, this game was lost because NBC wants an extra game.’ And you hear a New York coach say, ‘Well, what are you gonna do, (Michael) Jordan gets all the calls.’”